Filament dispenser package



Nov. 16, 1965 J. A. BRADSHAW FILAMENT DISPENSER PACKAGE Filed May 27, 1963 United States Patent 3,218,003 FILAMENT DISPENSER PACKAGE John A. Bradshaw, 55 Stever Ave., Hillsdale, NJ. Filed May 27, 1963, Ser. No. 283,5tl8 6 Claims. (Cl. 242-129.25)

This invention relates to improved filament dispenser packages and methods for manufacturing them. More particularly, it relates to non-raveling, tension-feeding, protective thread and twine dispenser packages and methods for manufacturing them.

For a very long time the spool has been widely used to store and dispense thread, twine and other filaments wound on the spool in one or more layers. In more recent times it is apparent that for many applications the spool is too bulky and costly and inconvenient to handle, especially for certain industrial applications. As :a result, a coreless tubular-shaped center-delivering mass of dispenser-packaged thread is proposed for use in industrial and other applications where large quantities of thread are used and the great bulk and cost of spools is very disadvantageous.

A disadvantage arising from using the spool, which is particularly noticeable in situations where the material has to be handled a great deal, is a tendency for the thread and twine and similar filamentary material to unravel from the roll and become tangled. Furthermore, these rolls are clumsy to use in that it is often difi'icult to locate the clipped end of the thread, so that the spool often must be turned around several times in an effort to find the end of the filament which is intended to be payed out from the mass. In addition, the outside layers of thread on such rolls are not protected from dust, discoloration and soiling due to handling. As a result, a substantial quantity of threads and similar filaments are often wasted because of soiling and discoloration. In many cases the outer layer of thread on a roll which has been exposed for a substantial period of time is purposely unwound and thrown away so as to uncover clean fresh-appearing thread for use. When a spool is accidentally dropped onto the iioor it may unroll a substantial length of thread or twine, and tension of the lilament as it falls causes the spool to spin and so to unroll even further. Finally, when these rolls are used on modern high-speed sewing machines they unroll so easily that they often permit the unraveling of many more strands of thread than was desired and they sometimes cast otl free loops and coils, with the result that the thread becomes tangled on the machine.

Among the objects of this invention is to provide small and compact thread and filament dispenser packages which are inexpensive and convenient to manufacture, ship and use.

Another object is to provide a filament dispenser which protects the ilament from soiling due to handling and exposure while automatically preventing it from unravelmg.

A further object is to provide a iilament dispenser package which grips the tilament as it is pulled from the dispenser package so as to prevent its tangling when used in modern sewing machines and to hold the dispensing end at a iixed location to simplify cutting the strand when necessary to change to another supply, and to present the clipped end of the filament readily accessible and self-evident to the user so that it may be immediately located at the next reuse.

A still further object is to provide simple and economical methods for manufacturing filament dispenser packages.

Other objects, aspects and advantages of the present invention will be in part pointed out in, and in part will be apparent from, the following description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention in use with a sewing machine;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective View of ranother embodiment of the invention, shown on a larger scale than in FIGURE 1 FIGURE 3 is a third embodiment of the invention, shown on the same scale as FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a partial cross sectional view taken along thelline 4 4 of FIGURE 2, shown on further enlarged sca e;

FGURE 5 is a partial cross sectional View taken along the line 5 5 of FIGURE 3, and shown on the same scale as in FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 shows the convenient display of the dispenser-packaged thread for retail sale.

The improved filament dispenser package 10 is shown in FIGURE l dispensing thread 12 to a sewing machine i4. This dispenser package 10 is mounted on the sewing machine spindle 16 by means of spaced holes 18 so as to be retained on the spindle yet free to be pointed in the strand delivery direction while the plane of the dispenser package remains `aligned with the axis of the spindle 16. The dispenser package 10 advantageously imposes a slight tension dragging force on the thread l2 as it is pulled out by the sewing machine in operation. The thread l2 is guided through the various operating parts of the machine in the customary manner .as will be seen from FIGURE l.

The dispenser package 20 shown in FIGURE 2 is the same as the dispenser package 10 of FIGURE 1, except for the mounting holes 21, and so the following detailed description, with that exception, is applicable to both dispenser packages 1t) and 20.

The dispenser packages 10 and 20 are formed by a pair of flexible sheets 22 and 23. The rear sheet 22 iS formed of a stiiiiy flexible material, for example a thin layer of metal foil or metallized paper, i.e. paper coated with a thin metal film, as by vacuum deposition. This rear sheet 22 may be opaque, and when it is formed of refiective material such as metal foil or metallized paper, the reiiective backing sheet 22 provides a display background for the material in the dispenser package 10 and 20. The front sheet 23 is more fiexible than the rear sheet and is transparent, for example being made of transparent plastic resin, acetate, Saran, polyethylene, cellophane or other similar transparent packaging material for displaying the contents of the packages 10 and 20. A precision-wound convex tubular-shaped center-delivering coreless-wound filamentary mass of thread 24 is enclosed firmly in place between the sheets 22 and 23. The end 26 of the thread filament 12 from the interior of the coreless wound mass 24 is extended out from between the sheets 22 and 23 and the edge regions of these sheets 22 and 23 are suitably sealed together along a border `area 28 extending around the package. In the packages llt) and Ztl the border area 28 is heat-sealed and crimped by transverse and longitudinal ridges and valleys so as to produce a strong waliie seal coniiguration. When the sheets 22 and 23 are of materials which do not readily heat seal together, then either or both are coated on their adjacent surfaces with suitable bonding material, for example, scalable iilm layers or other adhesives.

In the dispenser package 10 the mounting holes 18 are round and are punched through the two sheets 22 and 23. In the dispenser package 20 the mounting holes 21 are similarly formed but they are reinforced by eyelets or grommets 32 each of which is affixed to the edges of a hole 2l to reinforce the material surrounding it and also to provide a barrier against the entry of dirt into the interior space 33 surrounding the filament mass 24.

When the sheets 22 and 23 are sealed and crimped together over the extended filament end 26, it will be seen that these two sheets grip and form a constricted confining passage 34 around the filament 12 so as to create an advantageous frictional drag on it as it is drawn from the dispenser package or 2t?. The sealed area 28 is made of substantial width so that the length of passage 34 will be maximized for a given size of package, and if desired the sealed area 35 adjacent to the confining friction passage 34 may be wider than the other three edges of the dispenser package. This produces an advantage in that the greater length of passage 34 prevents it from wearing out quickly. The mounting means 18 or 21 are at the opposite end of the package 10 or 20, and the filament 12 pays out of an axial opening 36 at one end of the barrel-shaped filament mass 24.

Although heat-sealing of the sheet materials 22 and 23 has been described as a method for providing a bond 37 of the sheets 22 and 23 together along the border region 28, it should be understood that they may be sealed by such area-sealing procedures as glueing, cementing, pressure-sealing or the like without departing from the scope of this invention. If desired, a third mounting opening 21' having a surrounding eyelet or grommet 32 may be positioned midway between the mounting holes 2t. The end of the package 20 may be bent into an S-curve as seen in end elevation so as to pass the spindle I6 through all three of the holes 21, 2i and 2l. Similarly, the dispenser, package 10 may include a non-reinforced midend mounting hole 18 for corresponding purposes.

FIGURE 3 shows a dispenser package 40 which is constructed by a method slightly different from that used to form the dispenser packages 10 and 20 in that two similar iiexible sheets are used. In this method a pair of similar transparent sheets 41 and 42 of packaging material are sealed together along a border region Z8 to form a bond 37 between the two similar sheets. These sheets 41 and 42 are of material such as the sheet 23 of FG- URES l, 2 and 4. In FIGURES 3 and 5 reference numbers corresponding with those of FIGURES 2 and 4 are used to indicate corresponding parts and areas of the dispener package 40.

The only other difference between the package 40 and packages 10 and 20 is that the package 40 is shown as including only one mounting hole 21, but it will be appreciated that this single hole may be located at the midend position 21' if desired, or a pair of holes or three holes may be used for different mounting arrangements. In most applications a pair of holes are sufficient, but in use on older high-speed machines 14 producing substantial vibration, then the additional frictional gripping force of the three mounting holes on the spindle 16 may be of advantage to stabilize the position of the dispenser package in operation.

This invention overcomes the above-mentioned deficiencies of previously-available filament dispensers. First, it is much more compact than a spool and has a convenient, nearly flat shape. Second, since inexpensive sheet packaging material, e.g. plastic, cellophane or similar iilm is used to form the enclosure, and since no spool is needed, this dispenser is much cheaper to manufacture.

Also, very desirably, this dispenser automatically holds the end 26 of the thread 12 so that it will not unravel when the dispenser is dropped or even if it is handled repeatedly. This structural arrangement also holds the end 26 always available and easy to locate and grasp.

Finally, when used on a sewing machine as shown in FIGURE 1, this dispenser provides feeding of the thread at a relatively constant tension so that it does not unravel and become tangled. After the first tug on the end 26 of the thread for initially dislodging it from bonding engagement with the confining friction passageway 34, thereafter this confining passageway 34 provides a slight snubbing kink-removing tension only. It will be understood that the confining passageway 34 is arranged so that it does not exert a very great tension drag on the filamentary material being pulled therethrough.

The desired amount of snubbing drag which is exerted on the thread by the confining passageway 34 is very slight, being sufficient to straighten out the length of thread extending outside of the passageway 34 to the region of use, but this drag is not so great as to require any significant increase in the pulling force of the equipment or person using the thread being payed out from the dispensing package 10, 20, or 40, as the case may be. As used herein the terms snubbing, thread-straightening, kinkremoving tension are intended to mean a very slight snubbing drag as described above.

Moreover, the diameter of the interior convolutions of the center-delivering coreless-wound mass of thread 24 bears upon the smooth delivery and characteristics of the thread, and my experiments have convinced me that generally it is desirable that the initial interior diameter of the axial hole through the wound mass 24 be 1A of an inch in diameter for typical threads in use on sewing machines, for example, such as a No. 50 or 60 mercen'zed cotton thread. The reason for this is that if the corelesswound mass 24 is wound with an interior opening as small as 1,36 of an inch in diameter, then with most types of thread the interior convolutions tend to adopt a permanent kinked shape which requires too great a tension force to straighten them out. It is the interior convolutions which are drawn out initially from the dispensing packages 10, 20, or 40, and it is desired that they pay out smoothly without any kinked appearance. As the diameter of this center opening is increased the kinking tendency is correspondingly reduced, until at a size of 1A of an inch the thread delivery and its characteristics are excellent for most types of threads in common usage on sewing machines. For thicker, stiffer filaments the interior diameter of the mass 24 is correspondingly increased as will be understood, the objective being to use as small an interior opening as possible commensurate with the desired characteristics so as to make the over-all dispensing package as compact as possible while containing a reasonable length of filamentary material.

It will be understood that the two sheets enclosing the filamentary mass may initially be formed by a unitary sheet of twice the width or twice the length which is folded over in effect to provide two sheets on opposite sides of the filamentary mass, and then being bonded along the three edges, or along all four edges if it is desired also to bond the folded edge as well as the three other edges. Accordingly the terms two sheets or a pair of sheets are intended to include a unitary sheet of approximately twice the size which is folded over in effect to form two sheets.

This invention provides important additional advantages when it is used to dispense threads such as those used by housewives, seamstresses and tailors. The dispensers take up considerably less space in a sewing basket than would a number of spools holding the same number of different types and colors of thread. Also, the threads do not become entangled with one another when they are inadvertently mixed in the basket.

Furthermore, a retail store selling such items can display a large number of different colors of thread on a compact rack 5t) as shown in FIGURE 6, and these dispenser packages ltl, 20 and 40 serve to display the contents of each one as seen through the transparent envelope while protecting the thread against dust and customer handling.

As used herein the term filament or filamentary material is intended to include thread, twine, string, fishline and similar thread-like elements or strands.

Although certain specific advantageous embodiments of the invention have been set forth in detail, it is desired to emphasize that this is not intended to be exhaustive or necessarily limitive; on the contrary, the showing herein is for the purpose of illustrating the invention and thus to enable others skilled in the art to adapt the invention in such ways as meet the requirements of particular applications, it being understood that various modications may be made in the dispensing packages and methods of making without departing from the scope of the invention as limited by the prior art.

That which is claimed is:

1. A thread dispenser and sealed package comprising a center-delivering coreless-wound thread mass, a pair of sheets of packaging material positioned on opposite sides of said mass and being bonded together along a region extending around their peripheries forming an elongated sealed package enclosing said thread mass, at least one of said sheets being transparent for displaying the thread mass contained therein, the end of said thread mass from the interior thereof extending out of one end of said elongated sealed package and being sandwiched between the bonded edges of said sheets, said sheets being heat sealed and crimped together by transverse and longitudinal ridges and valleys in the area where said thread is sandwiched between them forming a confining passageway extending out through the bonded region of the sheets for making the end readily accessible for pulling the thread out through said passageway while said thread mass remains within said package and said confining passageway providing a very slight snubbing thread-straightening drag on the thread as it is being pulled out of the package through said confining passageway.

2. A thread filament dispenser and package comprising a wound mass of said thread iilament, a package encasing said thread filament mass, said encasing package having a transparent area providing a view of the thread filament therein, and a pair of opposed sheet portions sealed together to form a bond between them with an end of said thread iilament positioned outside of said package and said thread filament extending out from said mass sandwiched between said opposed sheet portions and being embedded in said bond forming an elongated passage through which said thread iilament is withdrawn in use, said passage being constricted substantially throughout its length frictionally engaging said thread filament and slightly impeding its travel as it is being drawn from said encasing package and providing a very slight thread filament-straightening snubbing action, said thread iilament dispenser package having a projecting edge portion and having a mounting hole in said projecting edge portion for mounting on a sewing machine spindle, said mounting hole being on the opposite end of said package from said constricted passage.

3. A thread lilament dispenser and package as claimed in claim 2 and wherein said pair of opposed sheet portions are heat sealed and crimped together in a wallie pattern along both sides of said elongated passage.

4. A thread dispenser and protective container comprising a pair of sheets of plastic iilm disposed in relation to one another so as to enclose a roll of thread between their surfaces, said sheets being bonded together over a relatively large area at and inwardly of their outer edges to form a container having an outwardly projecting bonded border region positioned around said roll of thread, an extending end portion of said thread passing out through a passageway in said bonded border region, and said dispenser and protective container having a plurality of holes therethrough at points spaced along said border region for mounting said dispenser and protective container in a vertical plane on a sewing machine spindle or the like.

5. A non-raveling, protective, container and dispenser for a thread filament supply which is easily mounted on a sewing machine spindle or the like, said supply comprising an evenly-wound roll of said thread lament, a plastic pocket encasing said roll and having one end sealed over a substantial area forming a passage out of said one end of said pocket, one end of said filament extending from said roll out through said passage to permit the drawing of said filament from said pocket, said pocket having a hole passing therethrough to facilitate its mounting on a sewing machine spindle or the like.

6. A thread dispenser and protective package comprising a center-delivering coreless-wound thread mass, a pair of sheets of packaging material on opposite sides of said mass and being bonded together along a region extending around their peripheries for forming a package enclosing said thread mass, at least one of said sheets being transparent for displaying the thread mass contained therein, the end of said thread mass from the interior of said coreless-wound mass extending out between the edges of said sheets at one end of the dispenser package through a thread-holding and confining passageway extending through the bonded region of the sheets flor holding said end of the thread readily accessible and said confining passageway providing a very slight snubbing threadstraightening drag on the thread as it is being pulled out of the package through said confining passageway, and said dispenser package including at least one mounting opening therein on the opposite end thereof from said thread-holding and confining passageway for mounting the dispenser package on a spindle for retail display purpose and for use on a sewing machine spindle.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,298,421 10/ 1942 Saliisberg. 2,420,983 5 1947 Salisberg. 2,72 0,309 10/ 1955 Kimball 206-46 3,107,648 10/ 1963 Lundstrom 116--173 FOREIGN PATENTS 549,474 11/ 1956 Belgian. 662,585 12/ 1951 Great Britain. 871,592 6/ 1961 Great Britain.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner. FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Examiner. 

1. A THREAD DISPENSER AND SEALED PACKAGE COMPRISING A CENTER-DELIVERING CORELESS-WOUND THREAD MASS, A PAIR OF SHEETS OF PACKAGING MATERIAL POSITIONED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID MASS AND BEING BONDED TOGETHER ALONG A REGION EXTENDING AROUND THEIR PERIPHERIES FORMING AN ELONGATED SEALED PACKAGE ENCLOSING SAID THREAD MASS, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID SHEETS BEING TRANSPARENT FOR DISPLAYING THE THREAD MASS CONTAINED THEREIN, THE END OF SAID THREAD MASS FROM THE INTERIOR THEREOF EXTENDING OUT OF ONE END OF SAID ELONGATED SEALED PACKAGE AND BEING SANDWICHED BETWEEN THE BONDED EDGES OF SAID SHEETS, SAID SHEETS BEING HEAT SEALED AND CRIMPED TOGETHER BY TRANSVERSE AND LONGITUDINAL RIDGES AND VALLEYS IN THE AREA WHERE SAID THREAD IS SANDWICHED BETWEEN THEM FORMING A CONFINING PASSAGEWAY EXTENDING OUT THROUGH THE BONDED REGION OF THE SHEETS FOR MAKING THE END READILY ACCESSIBLE FOR PULLING THE THREAD OUT THROUGH SAID PASSAGEWAY WHILE SAID THREAD MASS REMAINS WITHIN SAID PACKAGE AND SAID CONFINING PASSAGEWAY PROVIDING A VERY SLIGHT SNUBBING THREAD-STRAIGHTENING DRAG ON THE THREAD AS IT IS BEING PULLED OUT OF THE PACKAGE THROUGH SAID CONFINING PASSAGEWAY. 